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WHAT IS ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY?
Analyticphilosophyisroughlyahundredyearsold,anditisnowthe
dominantforcewithinWesternphilosophy.Interestinitshistorical
development isincreasing, but therehas hitherto beenno sustained
attempttoelucidatewhatitcurrentlyamountsto,andhowitdiffers
fromso-called‘continental’philosophy.Inthisrichandwide-ranging
book,Hans-JohannGlockarguesthatanalyticphilosophyisaloose
movement held together both by ties of influence and by various
‘family resemblances’. He considers the pros and cons of various
definitions of analytic philosophy, and tackles the methodological,
historiographicalandphilosophicalissuesraisedbysuchdefinitions.
Finally,heexploresthewiderintellectualandculturalimplicationsof
the notorious divide between analytic and continental philosophy.
His book will be an invaluable guide for anyone seeking to under-
standanalyticphilosophyandhowitispractised.
HANS-JOHANNGLOCKisProfessorofPhilosophyattheUniversity
of Zurich and Visiting Professor at the University of Reading. His
publications include A Wittgenstein Dictionary (1996), Quine and
Davidson on Language, Thought and Reality (2003) and (ed. with
JohnHyman)WittgensteinandAnalyticPhilosophy(2008).
WHAT IS ANALYTIC
PHILOSOPHY?
HANS-JOHANN GLOCK
Universita¨tZu¨rich
CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS
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© Hans-Johann Glock 2008
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First published in print format 2008
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ISBN-13 978-0-521-69426-1 paperback
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For Sonja and Helen
With a fond look back
und einem hoffnungsvollen Blick nach vorn!
...alleBegriffe,indenensicheinganzerProzesssemiotischzusam-
menfasst,entziehensichder Definition;definierbaristnur das,was
keineGeschichtehat.
(...allconceptswhichsemioticallycondenseawholeprocesselude
definition;onlythatwhichhasnohistorycanbedefined.)
FriedrichNietzsche(GenealogiederMoralII:13)
We moved with Carnap as henchmen through the metaphysicians’
camp.Webeamedwithpartisanpridewhenhecounteredadiatribe
ofArthurLovejoy’sinhischaracteristicallyreasonableway,explain-
ingthatifLovejoymeansAthenp,andifhemeansBthenq.Ihadyet
tolearnhowunsatisfyingthiswayofCarnap’scouldsometimesbe.
W.V.Quine(1976:42).
Contents
Preface pageix
1 Introduction 1
1 Whythequestionmatters 4
2 Howthequestionshouldbeapproached 9
3 Thestructureandcontentofthebook 16
2 Historicalsurvey 21
1 Prehistory 21
2 Firstglimmerings:mathematicsandlogic 26
3 Therebellionagainstidealism 30
4 Thelinguisticturn 34
5 Logicalconstructionismvsconceptualanalysis 39
6 Thecollapseoflogicalpositivism 44
7 Therehabilitationofmetaphysics 48
8 Fromlanguagetomind 52
9 Mattersofvalue 57
3 Geographyandlanguage 61
1 Fogoverchannel–continentcutoff! 61
2 VorsprungdurchLogik:Germanophonerootsofanalyticphilosophy 65
3 BritishempiricismvsGermanromanticism 69
4 TheAnglo-Austrianaxis 73
5 Contemporaryfailingsofgeo-linguisticconceptions 80
4 Historyandhistoriography 89
1 Historiophobiavsintrinsichistoricism 90
2 Instrumentalvsweakhistoricism 97
3 Anachronismvsantiquarianism 103
4 Hermeneuticequity 109
5 Doctrinesandtopics 115
1 Thecrusadeagainstmetaphysics 117
2 Language,contextualismandanti-psychologism 121
vii
viii Contents
3 Philosophyandscience 134
4 Topicaldefinitions 146
6 Methodandstyle 151
1 Puttinganalysisbackintoanalyticphilosophy 153
2 Thescientificspirit 160
3 Makingapiecemealofit 164
4 ‘Clarity’isnotenough! 168
5 Thevoiceofreason 174
7 Ethicsandpolitics 179
1 Doesanalyticphilosophyshunethicsandpoliticaltheory? 180
2 Isanalyticphilosophymorallyneutralandconservative? 182
3 Isanalyticphilosophyprogressiveandemancipatory? 189
4 TheSingeraffair 195
5 Anantidotetoideology? 200
8 Contestedconcepts,familyresemblancesandtradition 204
1 Anessentiallycontestedconcept? 205
2 Analyticphilosophyasafamilyresemblanceconcept 212
3 Analyticphilosophyasahistoricalorgeneticcategory 219
4 Thecontoursoftheanalytictradition 224
9 Presentandfuture 231
1 Imposters,bunglersandrelativists 232
2 What,ifanything,iswrongwithanalyticphilosophy? 242
3 Whitheranalyticphilosophy? 255
Bibliography 262
Index 283
Description:second half is devoted not to analysing analytic philosophy, but to practis- ing it on a specific topic. Hugh Le May Fellowship in 2002, and the Department of Philosophy, especially Marius Vermaak, for at least expect that 'analytic' indicates an analogy with chemical or math- ematical analysis a
